Author: thotsnthoughts

Caitlyn Jenner is a woman who needs no introduction. Olympic gold medalist, step-father to one of the most famous families in the world, and spokesperson of paramount importance for the trans community.

A woman who’s been through so much, even prior to her transition, and is absolutely deserving of the accolades she has received prior to and after her transition.

On July 15th, 2015, amidst controversy on multiple social media outlets, Ms Jenner received the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage at the ESPY Awards in Los Angeles. The transcript from her speech can be found here. Her speech touched on many topics regarding her transition: how she desires to give other trans people hope in their respective journeys, how trans teenagers face ferocious bullying from their peers and have staggeringly high suicide rates, and lastly, how hard it was for her to come out to her family.

Ms Jenner spoke specifically about how she hoped her story would promulgate trans acceptance, and allow young trans people to feel more comfortable in seeking help and support from their family and friends.

Leelah Alcorn made the headlines of nearly every major news outlet when she killed herself by walking into oncoming traffic on December 28th, 2014. Leelah was a trans girl who was denied transition treatment by her overly conservative parents, and instead sent to a Christian conversion therapy program, where her parents hope she would change.

Had Ms Jenner transitioned and made her transition so visible in the spotlight earlier, would Leelah have been more comfortable in her own skin, and maybe decided not to commit suicide?

I would say no. No fucking way.

Caitlyn Jenner, while she dealt with her own unique set of issues as a trans person beginning in her childhood, is one of the least relatable people in America. She is absolutely breaking barriers in the realm of trans acceptance—a former Olympic gold-medalist, a steadfast Republican, someone whom society wouldn’t “expect” to be a trans person—but if I were a troubled trans teen with overly-conservative parents, I would feel no solace knowing that Caitlyn Jenner was the spokesperson for my current internal struggle. A 65-year-old, multimillionaire, former superstar athlete who married into TV’s most famous family would be trying to give me advice that “it gets better.”

Caitlyn Jenner, if I’m not being cynical for a moment, probably didn’t choose to be in this position as the current spokesperson for trans acceptance, but she seems to have graciously accepted it, like it was her Arthur Ashe Award. Which makes me wonder, what do trans people think of Ms Jenner representing them now? Certainly trans people all each have a different story and come from different backgrounds, as all people do (duh), so some of them can’t be overly ecstatic about this.

Perhaps I’m looking at this wrong. I’ve noticed if I see Ms Jenner’s transition simply as a stepping stone in the direction of trans acceptance, instead of her engulfment all of trans culture by way of the rapid proliferation of media coverage (I mean come on, she has her own show now, and it’s all people can talk about), then it doesn’t bother me so much.

Just a side note, it also bothers me a little that Ms Jenner is making bank off of TV deals and endorsements, while the surgeries and complications pertaining to transitioning can be hundreds of thousands of dollars. Many trans people couldn’t transition to their desired gender if they wanted to, due to financial constraints.

I personally think Laverne Cox, an actress who is most famous for her role as inmate Sophia Burset in the Netflix original hit “Orange is the New Black,” is more relatable for trans teens. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, she attempted suicide at age 11, but eventually was able to receive sex reassignment and pursue a career as a successful actress. While her being trans is a big part of OITNB, her acting certainly transcends just her gender identity and shows the familial, financial, and social struggles of a woman (not just a trans woman) in prison.

If you disagree with some part (or hell, every word) of this article, present your reasoning civilly so I can see the error in my ways.

So I started work yesterday at Cerescan, and I’m already knee-deep in work. Today, I need to scour books, medical journals, and the entire Internet for citations for some Cerescan reports, which is harder than it sounds. Codeacademy is cool if you want to learn Java. Whenever there’s a lull in my workload, I go to the website, learn some super basic programming, and then get back to my work. It almost feels like a game, so it’s easy to advance quickly. Denver is neat though. We went to Rodizio, a Brazilian steakhouse in Lower Downtown Denver. They have these guys that carry around endless meat (endless meat is also what the ladies call me) and you can have as much chicken, pork, beef, and lamb as your heart desires. That was fun.

So now I’m home from work, alone in some stranger’s house in Littleton, CO. I have to cook dinner now, so I’ll let you know how that turns out.

My father recently returned from a business trip in China, and he, per usual, brought back several gifts for the whole family. One of my gifts, which I’m currently using, was a brushed aluminum iPhone case. I don’t like cases, so I usually go naked with my phone, but my dad knows I’m accident-prone and forced me to put it on. It’s brushed aluminum, it’s thin, and it’s not too obtrusive when I’m using my phone, so fine, I’ll use it. Anyways, I noticed that there is a circular cut-out on the back side of the case so that the Apple logo on the phone can remain exposed while the case is on the phone.

Maybe I’m looking too much into this, but I’ve noticed that American (among other countries’) phone cases don’t have this cut-out. Belkin, Speck, Mophie, Otterbox, you name it, they all don’t have this cut-out to expose the Apple logo. In contrast, every single cheap case I’ve ever ordered or purchased from China has had this circular cut-out. Obviously there could be more than one reason for this, but I theorize it has something to do with brand recognition. Currently in China, there is a generation of nouveau riche young people, who frivolously spend their parents’ money on cars, electronics, and luxury goods. Their parents, most likely, are self-made, due to the rise of capitalism in China post-Mao. So, to make up for generations of living in poverty, not having enough to eat, and wearing traditional Communist China garb, they wear their Louis Vuitton belts, drive their Lamborghinis, and, of course, parade around their champagne-gold iPhones.

Many rich Chinese youths are making up for lost ground by flaunting their wealth. It, of course, makes sense that they need to show off their Apple logos on their phones by using a case with a cut-out, or even no case at all. It’s not enough to be rich. They must also be perceived as rich. Of course, I’m generalizing here, but with the aggregate time I’ve spent in China totaling to over 2 years, I’ve seen this shift from modest frugality to a generation of relatively mindless spendthrifts. I think that as this shiny newfound wealth is no longer unique to only a small percent of the population, this frenzy over material goods will subside.

Of course, this was all just an observation of a couple phone cases. I could just be crazy.

I’m a second-semester senior. And with this, I’ve reached an interest imbalance in my life. For the first time in my life, grades don’t count for college anymore, so I’ve come to realize what I truly value. I like writing, which explains this blog, but I also find myself getting bored from subjects I used to put a lot of work into. This imbalance makes me feel like poop in spanish and chemistry; however, I feel more engaged and refreshed by english and economics than I have in the past. I write in my free time more than I ever have before, which I think is a worthy trade-off for me not doing my homework assignments. So, as I embark on this journey of self-exploration and truly for-leisure writing, sit back and read my shit and see if you like it. If you don’t, feel free to meet me in the dark alley behind the Giant Eagle supermarket. Tomorrow. 3 o’clock.